The Lost 7 Years
by Luna25684
Summary: After Lisanna's return, Lucy disappeared. Natsu, feeling guilty, refused to believe that she was gone, but was not able to go find his lost partner as he was forced to enter the S-Class Mage Promotion Trial at Tenrou Island. Before Zeref could fully leave the scene at Tenroujima, someone unexpected showed up. Full Summery inside.


**Full Summery: After Lisanna's return, Lucy disappeared on while out on a solo mission in order to pay for her rent. Natsu, feeling guilty, refused to believe that she was gone, but was not able to go find his lost partner as he was forced to enter the S-Class Mage Promotion Trial at Tenrou Island. Before Zeref could fully leave the scene at Tenroujima, someone unexpected showed up in front of him and held out a hand to Zeref, reminding him of their promise. Will the dark wizard take the offered hand once more, or will his fears of harming the ones he love get in the way of his yearnings? And were the fairies really put to sleep, or did something else happen to them during those 7 years?**

 **Declaimer: I don't owe Fairy Tail, only the plot idea for this story. Also, this story is fictional and made up, so don't take everything literally.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: The Offer**

"Goodbye… Natsu," said Zeref, looking down upon the raging battle underneath him.

"…Are you truly leaving now?" a voice questioned from behind him, causing Zeref's eyes to widen in shock. "Now that you've punished Precht for his crimes, are you going to leave me?

"Mavis," Zeref whispered, his eyes now back to normal, but he refused to turn around and look at the face of the child whom he had loved and killed.

"After over one hundred years of being together on that island, are you just going to leave me all by myself, Zeref?" she questioned.

A small smile graced Zeref's face as he closed his eyes and took in her presence. "Although I cannot see or hear you, I know you that are there. And I do apologize for killing one of your old friends and disturbing your peaceful slumber, Mavis. I hope you are not too angry with me for that."

Mavis's eyes saddened as she walked closer to the dark mage and reached out a hand to touch his. Zeref's eyes widened when he felt the touch instead of feeling the hand pass right through him.

"I'm not angry, Zeref," said Mavis. "… Hey. Do you still remember what I said to you back then? About this curse of ours?"

Zeref thought over her words for a moment. "Yes," he replied, a small smile on his face as he recalled the memory. "I remember. As always," he closed his eyes to remember back to that fateful day, "you were full of hope and always shining despite the situation. But it's useless now." He began to walk off, but Mavis kept a strong grip on him.

"No! It's not!" she shouted, tears streaming down her face. "I've found it! I've found a way, Zeref! After 100 years, I've finally found a way to ride us of this cures!"

Zeref's eyes widened at her words. "What?" he asked, shocked.

Mavis hugged Zeref from behind. "As a spirit, I've been traveling," she explained. "And during my time in the Spirit World, I met someone…" Tears spilt from her jade green eyes. "He told me… he told me that there was a way to ride us of this curse, but in exchange, a new curse would be placed on us."

Tears also streamed down Zeref's face at the revelation, and he could feel the child shaking behind him. Zeref looked down at the hand now partially visible as it wrapped around him, and despite his better judgment, he took up one hand and held onto his dead lover's own.

Mavis was surprise by his actions, but she'd stopped shaking as a smile graced her lips. "Let go together," she said. "Even though a new curse will be placed on us, it should at least be better than the one we have now. And if not, we can always refuse and try to find another way. So how about it, Zeref?" She beamed up at him. "Do you want to go together with me?"

Too stunned to form words, all the Black Wizard could do was nod at the offering, deciding to take a chance and trust this woman who had once said she's accept all of him, finding that despite everything that had happened between them in such a sort amount of time, he had truly fallen in love with her.

Mavis smiled. "Great!" she said. "But first," she let go of Zeref and the dark mage found himself missing her warmth despite the fact that she was a spirit and should've felt cold to the touch, "I have to save my wonderful children! I will be right back, Zeref!" She smiled at him before disappearing to save the members of Fairy Tail left on Tenrou Island.

Zeref could only watch as Acnologia sent a powerful blast at the island he had stayed with Mavis for over 100 years. He watched as the massive body of water divided into two on the place where the island should've been, and he had to smile a bit at what his mischievous Fairy was up to. Once the water merged back together and stilled, Mavis reappeared behind Zeref, who smiled at the thought of his brother safe and still alive. The two watched as the waters stilled and Acnologia flew of into the distance. Then Mavis took hold of Zeref's hand, bringing him out of his thoughts.

She smiled up at him. "Let's go!" said Mavis, running ahead and pulling Zeref along with her.

Instead of falling through the air like they ought to, Zeref found that he and Mavis had walked through some sort of dimensional sift, as he now found himself walking on solid rocks and that the sky had turned pitch black instead of sun shining blue. And to top it off, Zeref found that he could now fully make out Mavis's appearance, which he knew had not changed one bit since they'd last met- well aside from her cloths, but that was only to be expected of her.

"Where are we?" he questioned, turning away from watching the strange large black gate behind him to look at Mavis, who was leading them after in and away from the huge gate and toward their right.

Mavis giggled. "We're in the Underworld," she replied, causing Zeref's eyes to widen. "Takumi-san gave me directions. He said that we must keep to the right path, the Path of the Spirits, in order to meet up with Acheron-san at the Acheron River after we pass through the Gate of Underworld. This way, we can avoid the Gate of Hell and the demons that Takumi-san saved me from the first time I was here." Sparks flew in Mavis's eyes as she mentioned the name Acheron and remembered back to the time she was saved by the man named Takumi. "Although it's been over 100 years since my death, my time in the Spirit World was really sort. It had probably only lasted about a month or so, and Takumi-san only got to show and told me so much before we parted ways, so I'm really excited to learn more about this place and explore a little."

Zeref smiled at her explanation. "We never really did get to know each other very well, did we?" he commented.

Mavis laughed and turned back to Zeref. "You insisted on keeping your distance, remember?" She turned back to the road they were walking on. "And besides, our time together was sort. But I suppose I should start. My name is Mavis Vermillion. My parents were Marcus and Alina Vermillion. Both of them died when I was young and I had to work at a guild called the Red Lizard to pay off their debts. One day, we were attacked by the Blue Skull guild and I was the only survivor left, but my illusion magic made me think that Zera, the daughter of Red Lizard's guild master, was also alive-"

"Oh… that was your illusion, was it?" Zeref questioned, thinking back to the other girl he'd seen the day Mavis introduced him to the rest of her group.

Mavis nodded her head. "Though at the time, I didn't know that she was only my illusion until Yuri told me. Anyways, seven years passed and Yuri, Precht, and Warrod came to hunt for the Tenrou Jade. Yuri and I played a game of wits, in which I won," she smiled proudly at that before sighing in sadness, "but it was no use. We found out that Blue Skull took the Jade, so we left the island to go and search for it. And then I'm sure you can guess what happened next..." She studied the Black Mage's face wearily to find that he was tense at the mention of her death. "After I died, I did ended up in the Spirit World, but I was lost and wondered over to the demon side and that's when a man named Takumi saved me." Mavis let out a happy laugh. "At first, I didn't know who he was, but he saved me and recognized my curse right away, and he told me how I could get ride of it. After that, I had to find a way out of the Spirit World, and the disturbance at Tenrou Island was what called my spirit back. And then I found you," she smiled up at him, causing Zeref to slip her a small return smile of his own, "which was what I had wanted to do as soon as I returned. And what about you, Zeref?"

Zeref looked ahead and he could see a large red torii gate and a black body of water in the distance. "My full name," he began, "is Zeref Dragneel. 400 years ago, I was a normal human with a normal family. My father's name was Tetsuya and my mother was Arianna." He smiled at the memories of his family. "And I also had a little brother. His name is Natsu." Zeref let out a small laugh after hundreds of years of silence. "Even though our appearance is swopped, Natsu acts the most like our dad." He opened his eyes and looked at the road in front of them. "The four of us lived in Mildian, but all three of them were taken from me one day, when the dragons attacked." Mavis's grip on his hands tightened and Zeref smiled down at her before looking up again. "It seems that we are here, Mavis."

"Seems so," said Mavis, as the two stopped in front of the black river that seemed to stretch endlessly on all three sides of them. The two could not make out what was on the west side of the banks, as tick clouds loomed over it, but they both knew that that was the entrance to the Spirit World.

"But I don't see a boat anywhere though," said Mavis, looking around in search for a boat that would take them to their destination. "Oh! There's one!" She spotted one coming out of the mist and began waving her hand to catch the attention of the rider. "Hey! Over here!"

The boat made its way toward them and stopped a little ways away from the gate where Mavis and Zeref stood. Mavis, in her excitement, walked closer to the edge of the water in order to get to the boat.

" _Matsu_ (wait)," said the girl on the furry, her panicked voice managed stopped Mavis before she could enter the deadly River despite not knowing the language.

"What?" Mavis questioned.

"Do not enter the River so carelessly, child," said the girl in a black kimono covered with flowery patterns, switching from Japanese to Italian the minute she recognized it. Mavis narrowed her eyes at being addressed as a child by someone who seemed only a few years older than herself. "It is dangerous. You could've gotten hurt or even dragged below the surface by the souls dwelling in this River. Should that happen, you would be the one stuck down there, taking the punishment while a sinned soul escapes and commits more crimes."

Hearing that, Mavis stepped away from the River and back toward Zeref's side, hugging him. Zeref was shocked by this, still not quite use to the constant contact, but he guessed that he should've expected as much from Mavis. This thought, along with remembering her words to him 100 years ago, made him smile.

"This is strange," said the red-eyed furrier, snapping Zeref out of his thoughts. "Her," she pointed to Mavis, "I can understand, but you," she turned her pointer figure to Dark Mage, "you are a human…?" She tilted her head a little in confusion as she studied and tried to placed the cursed immortal. "Why are you here?"

Mavis stepped up and said, "We want to go to the End of the Line," she replied.

"The End of the Line," the black haired girl repeated. "Where? North?"

Mavis shook her head, her browns knotted together in confusion. "No, and I thought that North is Heaven, which is actually the Start of the Line?"

The black haired girl smiled. "Not very many knows about that, or the fact that we Furriers can take them there. Everyone only believes us capable of going between the human world and the underworld. So then, you wish to go South..."

Mavis nodded. "Takumi-san told me that I need to ride Acheron's boat to the End of the River," she said.

The furrier's eyes widened. "Lord Takumi told you?" she whispered out in surprise, before returning back to her stoic face once more. "I'm afraid I cannot take you there, as that far deep is too much for even me. That place is forbidden and off limits to the majority of us, actually, be it furriers of Heaven, Hell, or the Spirit World. As Lord Takumi said, you must wait for Lord Acheron's boat to appear if you want to go there. He is the only one among us who can furry you there safely and back."

"And how do we know which boat is Acheron's?" Zeref questioned.

"Lord Acheron's boat, unlike ours, is black," the furrier answered. "You won't miss him. Now, if you'll excuse me. I must return to my job." She then began to move her boat once more.

"Wait!" Zeref stepped out. "How long will we have to wait for Acheron?"

"Who knows," she said, disappearing down the river.

"So we'll have to wait here for who knows how long then?" said Mavis in disbelief. She looked up at Zeref. "I'm sorry, Zeref. I had no idea-"

"No, it's all right," Zeref interrupted her, going to sit on the rocks at the side of the River. "I've waited 400 years. I'm sure it won't kill to wait for a bit longer. And besides," he held a hand up to study it, "it doesn't seem as though my powers will destroy anything here," he glanced at their barren surroundings, "so it's fine. And I doubt anymore can find us here either, so that's a plus."

Mavis smiled at his words and went to sit beside him. "So, since we have some time to kill, why don't you continue telling me about your past?"

Zeref looked down at her. "I have 400 years worth, you know that right?"

Mavis nodded. "I know. And that's why I want you to tell me. There must be something interesting that happened in your life. Beside, it'll ride me of my boredom and waste away the time we have to wait."

Zeref let out a small laugh. "I see," he said, before facing forward. "Where did I left off? Ah yes. After their death, I enrolled in Mildian Magic Academy and there I researched the connections between life, death, and magic in hopes of bringing my little brother back to life. I didn't like the fact that he had to die at such a young age, or the fact that I was left all alone. I wanted him back, and thus, I created the R-System and the Eclipse Gate. The R-System, also known as the Tower of Heaven, is a magic item that can be used to revive the dead. But to do so requires a lot of energy and human sacrifices. The Eclipse Gate, on the other hand, would allow one to travel through time during a Solar or Lunar Eclipse."

"And that's why it's called the Eclipse Gate," said Mavis. "I know. I have studied it, Zeref. I guess I forgot to mention that I love books and that, during those lonely seven years, I've read all the books in Tenrou Island's library, and then some in Magnolia."

Zeref smiled. "I see. I should've guessed as much. After all, you were the first to be able to correctly identify my curse."

Mavis beamed. "Really?" she questioned, excited.

Zeref nodded and continued the story. "Because I created these two items and went against the teachings of Ankhseram, I was expelled from the academy and ended up with the Curse of Contradiction." His face saddened over at the memory of what he had accidentally done that had caused him to find out about his curse. "I found out about the curse after I had killed everyone in the Academy." Zeref suddenly found Mavis hugging him and had to smile at her actions as he placed a hand on top of the ones she had around him. "After that, I wondered around and created the Etherious, my demons, in hopes of having them kill me. But it was no use, so I went back to my original purpose and finally revived my little brother with the purpose of having him kill me. He is the most powerful demon I've created, and I named him Etherious Natsu Dragneel- E.N.D. …Fitting, isn't it?" Mavis nodded. "Then one day, I met a dragon named Igneel. He was the king of the fire dragons and one of the dragons who were not opposed to associating with humans.

"I got Igneel to agree to raise Natsu in my place and teach him Fire Dragon Slayer Magic. In exchange, I helped him and four other dragons use the Eclipse Gate to travel 400 years into the future so they could use the Ethernano-dense air there to recover from the damage done to their soul and kill Acnologia. To do so, they needed to use the Dragon Soul Technique to seal their souls inside their young dragon slayers as well as convince two Celestial Spirit Mages to open the Eclipse Gate for them to pass through. 400 years ago, I convince Anna Heartfilia to open the Gate and 400 years later, I got Layla Heartfilia to do it in order to connect the two time periods. This allowed the young Slayers to arrive on July 7, in the year X777."

Mavis shivered suddenly, hugging herself, and Zeref noticed that the fog had picked up on the surface of the River, as the temperature seemed to drop. Zeref took off his toga and wrapped it around Mavis's small body before bringing her into a hug to keep her warm.

"Are you all right?" he asked, a bit concerned.

Mavis nodded and smiled up at him. "I'm okay now," she said. "Thank you." Zeref smiled and Mavis glanced back at the River. "Strange. It suddenly became colder. I wonder why…?" Mavis eyes widened when she saw a hint of something black and pointy emerging from the tick fog on the surface of the black water. "Zeref, look!" she pointed toward the object.

Zeref, a bit confused, looked to where Mavis was pointing only to find a black boat emerging from the fog, heading toward the red torii gate stationed on the east shore of the Acheron River. Quickly, the two got up and Mavis ran toward the gate, careful not to left her feet touch the water, while Zeref merely walked over to stand beside her, both their eyes were set on the dark hooded figure rolling the boat toward them. The two waited anxiously for the bout to stop in front of the gate.

"Ai told me you wish to venture to the End of the Line?" the hooded man questioned.

"Yes," Mavis nodded, a smile on her face for, despite the aura around him and how he appeared, this person did not give off a bad feeling. His words were kind, and Mavis could him smiling under that black hood of his.

"So young and so kind…" the man gently commented, observing the two. "Yet you both bear such a heavy and depressing curse. I'm not surprise he's interested. Especially in you, boy." The man raised his rubber from it's place at the back of the boat, and pointed it at Zeref's face. Judging by the distance between them, Zeref did not think that the large paddle would reach him, but it did, and it caused him to take a small step back to avoid getting hit in the face with it.

"400 years worth of death on you, oh how sad." Zeref flinched under Acheron's observant eyes. "Honestly, what was he doing? Waiting until the numbers accumulated this much and for you to fall this deep before summoning you." The man let out a tired sigh and brought his stick down. "Anyways, get on." His waved his pale white hand and a black wooden bridge appeared to cover the gape between the two and the boat.

Mavis and Zeref looked at each other before Zeref took the first step and held out his hand to help Mavis up and later, into the boat.

"It's been a while," said Acheron, "since anyone's had to use my transportation in order to get to him. Usually, he just summons them to him now. I wonder why he…?" The man drifted off just as Mavis and Zeref sat down on the boat, adjusting themselves for comfort. Mavis glanced up at him with a questioned look on her face when he stopped talking. Acheron dismissed her look of curiosity and began to direct the boat down stream.

Everyone was silent as the boat traveled down river and Mavis, feeling slightly uncomfortable with it, glanced around the dark and barren land of the Eastern Shore in search for something, anything, that may prove to be a distraction from the current tense silence. Finding nothing else and knowing that the West side was full of tick, misty fogs, she decided to turn back to Zeref, who sat facing her and Acheron. Noticing that he was just staring at her this whole time, Mavis smiled and decided to continue where they left off on their last conversation.

"Zeref," she began. "You said that you're brother was sent 400 years into the future?"

Zeref looked off to the side of the river, glancing down at it to see all the screaming souls down there.

"Careful," said Acheron, bringing Zeref and Mavis's gaze to him. "You can be lured in the longer you stare. They're kinda like sirens in that regard."

Zeref nodded before looking back at Mavis. "Yes," he replied to her question. "I did… those 400 years spent without him… waiting for him… it was lonely… and painful. It made me create more demons-" Acheron hummed as he stared down at the dark mage with interested eyes. "And I'm sure you know about my books and Acnologia… and I told you about the empire I founded, right?"

Mavis nodded. "You did," she replied. "But you didn't go into depth about it before… your thoughts contradicted and…" Mavis's face showed a painful expression as she stared at Zeref's own, looking for a sign.

Zeref smiled sadly and nodded, but before he could continue Acheron spoke up. "We are now approaching the entrance to the Second Level of Hell," he announced as they approached yet another large red torii gate this one bigger than the last. "Sorry to interrupt your story, I just had to say that." They rowed passed the gate. "Like I said, it's been a while, since I've had a guest aboard my boat." He smiled a warm smile as his eyes gazed over with warmth. "If you'd look to your left," he quickly snapped out of it, "you would be able to note all the large thorn trees littering the place."

Mavis and Zeref looked toward the Western Shore and took in the horrific scenes of naked people climbing up the thorn covered trees, their blood and guts splattering about as they went, Mavis covered her ears and closed her eyes to ride herself of the painful cries and moans of the souls. She made a disgusted face at the picture while Zeref remained stoic as he watched the dagger-wielding reapers carry on the punishment.

"What are they doing?" Mavis questioned, hiding her face in Zere's toga as he covered her head and shielded her from the horrible sight.

"The Second Level of Hell is known as Lust," Acheron explained. "This place is where the souls who were so full of lust that they would ignore morals, betray their partner or hurt others, in manners such as rape, are placed. Here, they are punished by having to climb the thorn tree naked, and the reapers placed at the bottom makes sure that the minute they make their way back down, they must climb back up or risk getting stabbed by the hot burning spears of Hell. This process of climbing up and down the Thorn Tree continues until the soul's lustful sin is cleansed. Then they move onto the next level and receive punishment there, if there is a need to do so. If not, then they move onward toward the next level until they reach Twilight. And from there, they await rebirth back into the human world, but weather or not they will be human once more, or even what major events will take place in their next life, all depends on to the sins and deeds they've committed when they were alive."

Mavis and Zeref nodded at his words. "What about the first level?" Mavis questioned, remembering that Acheron had said that this was the second level.

Acheron smiled. "Oppse, my mistake I forgot," he said, a hand on his head. "I'll get back to that once I'm finished explaining to you about the second level. Is that okay?" Both Mavis and Zeref, interested as they were with this new knowledge Acheron was telling them, nodded. "Okay. Now, if you'd please turn your attention to the right."

Both Mavis and Zeref did as they were told. "Here, you will notice that on the shores of the demons, the demons here appear to be the same as the ones on the first level, but in fact they are not. No, these demons are a lot more powerful then the ones in the first level, and they will only become stronger the farther down we go… there's also something I forgot to mention. Remember what I told you about the rapists?" Mavis and Zeref nodded. "Well, the demons have their own set of punishments, and they are usually the ones to deal with those rapists and extreme sadists. And sometimes, they're also invited in for IT sessions on the Seventh Level, but with the 6th Division holding such bleeding reputations, those occasions are limited and rare." Acheron sighed in sadness.

"And what do the demons do with those rapists, exactly?" Mavis innocently questioned.

Acheron stared at her for a moment, before giving off a wide smile and a small, nervous laugh. "Seeing how innocent you are, my little fairy, I don't think I have the heart to tell you. Now him on the other hand…" He looked at Zeref, who already had an idea of what kind of punishment the demons were able to implement on the heavy sinners, and why it was that it could only be them who were able to do it.

Mavis pouted at that, and looked to Zeref, who had his head turned away from her cute eyes. "Zeref!" she shouted. "What is it?"

Zeref turned back and smiled a closed eyed smile at her. "It's best you don't know, Mavis," he said. "But…" He trailed off, looking up to avoid her eyes, causing Acheron to chuckle a little at that. "Let's just say that those souls got what they deserved… and maybe finally understood the feelings of the other party they'd forced into their… pleasure."

"Ahh, virgins," said Acheron, observing the way the two youngsters behaved and causing them to blush at his words.

"You were saying something about the First Level?" Zeref quickly spoke up to cover his embarrassment.

"Right, the First Level." Acheron's amused smile slipped into a sigh. "I should've done this before we approach the Third, but oh well." They passed through the gate of the Third Level. "The First Level is known as Sloth. It is where the souls of lazy people ends up and, had you looked over to the Western Shores when we began our journey, you would've noticed that the souls were being forced to do heavy labor such as rebuilding the pyramids under the hot sun or farming without the aid of animals while the rain poured down on them and the likes. As for the souls in the river, well..." He stared down the at surface of the water. "It's pretty painful." Acheron looked back up. "Now, moving on to the Third Level; Gluttony."

Zeref and Mavis turned to the Western Shores to find food stands everywhere. Sitting on the stools were souls, stuffing their faces into the food presented to them and some, the two noticed, seemed to be turning into pigs with how much they were eating. "Here, the big eaters get to eat until their stomachs explodes again and again, and the Reapers once again makes sure that they keep eating or suffer a punish far worse then what they have to face the minute the Reapers' weapons makes contact with the souls' 'flesh'."

"Umm, those pigs…" Mavis pointed out wearily.

"Ahh yes," said Acheron. "The souls that ends up here are usually reborn as pigs or other such animals. Though that only happens to those that are both extremely lazy and gluttonous. There's also a possibility of ending up as dogs, cats, hamsters or even rats. But to be honest with you, the possibilities are endless. It just all depends on you and your decisions in life."

They finally entered the Fourth Level, where Mavis and Zeref could see large black pots over burning fires littering the place.

"Greed," said Acheron. "Here the souls bonded by their greed are boiled in the large mantling pot that they believe to be filled with gold treasures. These souls are no allowed to surface and reapers stationed on top are to make sure that they don't come up for air or try to escape… we still have a ways to go on this one, so why don't you finish what you were going to say, Zeref?"

Zeref nodded and continued his story. "I created the Alvarez Empire over in the Western Continent of Alakitasia, and I became Emperor under the name Spriggan. Since I only see them as paws, the Curse doesn't affect them, but I still decided to wonder the world in search for my little brother anyways."

"And your empire is all right with that?" Acheron questioned, his eyes looking onward at the road in front of them.

Zeref nodded. "They can function without me," he replied. "The military is strong, and it had been a land full of wars and struggles before I unified them. And despite my lack of presence, to them, my word is still absolute."

Acheron hummed. "For some reason, when referring to the west and a strong military, it reminds me a bit of that guy's place."

"That guy?" Mavis questioned.

"You'll probably run into him one day," said Acheron, waving it off. "Maybe. But then again," he went back to musing over his pervious topic, "this could probably apply to all of them. I mean, China and Germany..." Acheron shook his head to ride himself of the complicated thought.

"Anyway, moving on." They passed into the Fifth Level. "The Fifth Level of Insolence. Here, those who disrespect others are forced to relive the events with their roles reserve and later, if they had offended an older person or had gone so far as to insult their mentors or ancestors, they will be stepped on by the 10,000 feet of the inferno giants."

Mavis and Zeref watched the horrific scene of souls wailing on the ground as thousands of large foot stepped on them, breaking their bones and causing them pain beyond comparison while the Reapers stood off to the side and watched on under their dark hoods.

"… You mentioned your little brother?" Acheron spoke up, brining their attention away from the bone crushing sight.

"Oh yes!" said Mavis, turning back to Zeref with a happy smile on her face, ignoring the scene on her left and the painful melodies resounding through the air. "Did you manage to find him, Zeref?"

Zeref smiled. "I found him," he said, nodding in confirmation. "And just recently too, actually."

"Really?" Mavis's eyes lit up as she moved closer to Zeref. The older mage nodded. "How did it go?" Mavis pushed further for information.

"Well… I met him at Tenroujima…" Zeref answered, glancing at Mavis to see her reaction.

"Tenroujima?" she questioned. "My island?"

Zeref nodded.

Mavis sat back down. "But… then that would mean that…" Zeref nodded to confirm her suspicions.

"He is a member of Fairy Tail," he said.

"Which one? The one with many piercings?"

Zeref burst into laughter once he figured out to whom she was referring to. "No," he said. "It's not him. I told you his name, Mavis. And I also said that a fire dragon raised him and taught him fire dragon slayer magic!"

Mavis's eyes widened when the image of pink haired fire breathing mage appeared in her mind's eyes. "The Salamander boy?"

"Yes," said Zeref. "Him. Fairy Tail's pink haired Salamander, Natsu Dragneel."

Mavis's eyes widened. "How could I have been so stupid?"

"Sorry to interrupt your little show of beating yourself up, Mavis, but we have entered the Sixth Level; Anger," said Acheron, as the boat sailed into the blazing land full of painful screams and cries as the souls there burn in their own flames of anger.

"So they get burned by their own anger in this one?" Mavis questioned, observing the scene.

Acheron nodded. "It doesn't seem like much, but once you experience the fire yourself, then you'll know how much it truly burns," he said, waving his hand over the boat to protect them from the flaming heat and the dense air it created. "I doubt even your brother could put it out, Zeref."

Zeref raised an eyebrow, but remained silent while Mavis turned around and asked, "Why do you say that, Acheron?"

"Call me Ash, it's less of a mouthful." Mavis nodded at his words, and Acheron looked toward the blazing fire. "Because that flame came from the anger of a god… and a demon, that's why."

"I hear a story coming on," Mavis sang, pushing for more.

Acheron sighed. "The god is known as the God of Final Fate, otherwise known as the God of Destruction. His main element is fire."

"The fire we see here…" Zeref spoke up, his mind working to piece things together.

Acheron nodded and continued, "He was angry at the world for taking his beloved wife, the Goddess of Loyalty, away from him, so he leased out in blind anger and his sister, the Goddess of the Moon, sealed his burning rage here so that it wouldn't consume the world.

"And now, if you'd finally turn to your right, my dear guests," said Acheron, sounding cheerful as he changed the topic and directed both Mavis and Zeref's attention to the eastern shore, the side of the demons, only to find that the place was now littered with volcanoes everywhere. "You will find that there are volcanos on the side of the demons. Those volcanos release poisonous gas, so you have to be careful here."

Zeref and Mavis nodded before Zeref turned back to stare at Acheron. "You mentioned the demon?" he questioned, bring them back to the original topic. "How does he come into all of this?"

Acheron smiled widely at this. "Well… that one is… how should I put it? He was just angry at the world itself because he thinks it's unfair? I honestly don't know what goes on in that boy's head sometimes. And he is pretty unpredictable, I mean, he wants to destroy humanity yet at the same time, doesn't." Zeref found himself connecting to this demon, whoever he is, and Mavis could see it just by looking at his face.

"Who is he?" Zeref questioned, his mind already making the connections and coming up with answers.

Acheron continued to frown and stared onward. "We are now approaching entering the 7th Level, the emotion that usually accompanies anger, Violence," said Acheron, ignoring Zeref's question and gave off a clear sign that told Zeref to drop the topic, for Acheron was no longer in the mood to continue the story or answer any of his questions.

A few minutes later, the boat passed through the 7th red torii gate. As soon as they entered this new level, both Mavis and Zeref could hear cries of pain and battle, along with the resounding noise of metal hitting metal and strange banging noises like small cannons going off. They looked to the left to fine a battle raging about and people getting killed and revived again and again only to be taken down by sharp blades or gun bullets once more.

"War…" Zeref whispered, his eyes going sad. "It never stops."

"No," Acheron wearily sighed in agreement. "It never does. But humans are like that. They struggle to survive in this harsh, cruel world. Maybe that's why he wants to destroy it, yet at the same time, save it?" Acheron sighed and shook his head. "This is why I told him not to get involved with them, but does he ever listen?" He let out a heavier sigh and returned to his original objectives. "Aside from war, there is another method we have recently created to deal with the people here as well. It's quite affective, and it's also what made the 6th Division of Soul Reapers become so infamous and bloodied… Well, more then they were originally…"

The water suddenly started to raise and halt the boat from sailing forward, and Zeref noticed the ripples of the surface. Acheron raised his sweeper out of the water; his eyes narrowed as Mavis, seeming oblivious asked, "What?"

Acheron sighed, a small happy smile adoring his face. "And this is where it usually starts for me."

Zeref turned back, but Acheron told him to keep his hands inside the boat and not to touch the edges if he doesn't want to drown and be a living corpse at the bottom of his river.

"Duck!" Acheron order, swing his sweeper at the black flamed horses coming out of the water.

With one sweep, Acheron was able to get ride of the entire obstacle in his way and he smiled in victory as Zeref and Mavis looked up, no longer holding their heads.

"...Is this the reason why do one but you can enter these parts and why, so far, the demons and reapers have been giving us strange looks and avoiding us?" Zeref questioned, remembering back to the demons running off and the reapers become stiff as they gave a small, almost unnoticeable bow Acheron's way.

Acheron smiled. "Good observation," he praised, bring his sweeper back to steering the boat forward. "Now if you'd please look to your right once more, you will notice that the demons no longer takes on the forms of hideous or demonic beast-like monsters anymore, but actually somewhat resembles humans now, yes?"

Both Zeref and Mavis nodded, noticing that Acheron's words rang true, as the creatures that lived past the volcanic mountainous regions actually had human bodies- though not entirely, as animal ears and tails were still visible.

Acheron smiled. "The further down we go, the more powerful the demons become and the harsher the punishment for the sinned souls. And as the demons become stronger, they are able to take on human forms…" Acheron explained and paused to let this all sink in. "If it had been anyone else, the trip would not have been so smooth. You're lucky that Mavis reminds Takumi too much of his beloved daughter and that he decided to help the both of you out instead of allowing you to venture to that man on your own two feet like he'd intended for you to."

Not quite understanding what Acheron was saying but knowing that the smile on his face made it clear that he would not answer their questions, made the two Cursed pair refrain from questioning him further.

Acheron let out a small laugh at their attempt. "Don't worry," he said. "Nothing can be kept a secret forever. You're bound to know the answers to your questions one day. And since the both of you will live for a long time, there isn't any need to rush, or the fun will be spoiled." He laughed at his own words, further confusing the two, but then his laughter stopped and Acheron narrowed his eyes at the six shadows appearing before them, blocking them from entering through the 8th gate.

However, both Zeref and Mavis noted that once they saw Acheron, the black shadow creatures parted ways for him and let the boat passed.

"Who are they?" Mavis asked.

"Nightshades," Acheron replied, ferrying the boat forward. "They're shadow creatures belonging to and serving under the current head of the Mikage family, Mikage Hayate. You should memorize this name, as well as the name Namikaze Hiroki. I have a feeling that it'll do you good one day." Not one to take words lightly, both Mavis and Zeref nodded at the Furrier's advise.

"So, what's this level?" Zeref questioned, looking around the place to find souls being tide up and forced onto the ground as black-cloaked reapers forced a bow of something red or black down their throats.

"Fraud," Acheron answered none chattily, not paying attention to the scene on the side, but to the water instead. "The souls here are forced to eat nails, lava, and hot flaming rocks flesh out of the earth's core."

"Oh my," Mavis gasped. "So this is the price for lying?"

Acheron nodded and Zeref noticed the rocking of the boat as purple tentacles came up and wrapped themselves around the black boat. Mavis grabbed onto Zeref's waist, who grabbed onto his seat instead of the edges of the boat to keep himself steady. She screamed when one of the octopus's arms came around her waist and tried to grab her, successfully taking her away from Zeref.

"Mavis!" Zeref reached out for her, his eyes full of concern as he got up despite the unsteady, rocking surface.

However, before Mavis could make it out of the protective berrier Acheron placed around the boat, the sweeper in his hand turned into a black scythe and he used it to sliced the arm off, reaching Mavis from the octopus's hold and saving her from the poisonous air outside.

"That was close," he whispered, before watching Zeref hug Mavis to himself as if his life depended on his, tears willing up in his eyes.

Acheron smiled warmly at the scene, before narrowing his eyes at the head leaping out of the water's surface. "You," he growled out. "Not only did you dare to grab my boat, but you even made me spilt your acidic purple blood here." He leaped out of the boat and brought the hint of his scythe down on the head of the giant monster emerging from the water, thus knocking him out instead of killing him. "You're lucky I don't want to hear complaints of have anymore paperwork pilled up on my desk. And I know that it's been a while since my last visit, but really… next time, just stay out of my way and don't get me pissed, or I won't feed you, damn it." He leaped back to the boat as the octopus returned back under the river. "Honestly, to attack his own answer." Acheron shook his head. "You're lucky I love you enough to only give you a little slice and a bump on the head to remind you of who I am, Kraken."

Acheron walked passed Zeref and Mavis and back to his post, turning his scythe back into the sweeper and steering the boat once more toward the next torii gate.

The minute they passed into the blue rumbling black clouds hovering over the ninth gate, both Mavis and Zeref noticed how cold the place was. Both of them shivered and Mavis hugged herself before Zeref brought her into his arms. Seeing this, Acheron held out his hand and a small flame filigreed to life. He then threw the flame outwards and suddenly, Mavis and Zeref could see rectangular paper lanterns lighting up around the boat, providing them warmth and light in the cold darkness.

"The Ninth and last Level, Treachery," said Acheron. "This is considered the gravest sins anyone could commit and the price one pays for it is to be nailed on a cross and left out to strove in the cold rain as ravens rip away at their skins while they are still alive."

Through the darkness, Mavis and Zeref could make out the many people with their arms and feet nailed to an iron cross as ravens ripped apart their skins.

"Keep your hands and feet inside the boat, you two," Acheron calmly ordered. "No matter what, do not get off the boat, or make any sudden sound."

Mavis moved closer to Zeref as the black slithery serpents slide around the boat, yellow bolts of electricity buzzing off of their skin. "What are they?" she asked.

"Electric eels," Acheron replied. "Very deadly, especially in water. But that's not the worst part of this though."

As the boat sailed into the rainy part of the Ninth Level, both Zeref and Mavis noticed that the eels backed away and refused to enter. Also, they both noted that Acheron's demeanor seemed to have changed and he was a lot more serious and cautious then before. Mavis shivered at the fall in temperature and began to wonder why there was no sign of snow despite the server drop in temperature.

Noticing her heavily shaken form, Acheron waved his hand outward and more fire lanterns appeared to ease the cold, widening the protective barrier to block them from the rain and other outside harm coming from the sky.

"Why is there no snow?" Zeref questioned, seemingly unaffected by the cold.

Acheron smirked. "Your soul is very still, isn't it?" he observed, casing Mavis's eyebrow to rise but she was too shaken to question what he meant by that. Though she did have an idea, as she suddenly closed her eyes and began to meditate. Acheron's smile only widened. "Maybe this is why he waited for so long."

Though Zeref remained stoic as he stared back at Zeref, he was internally glade that Mavis remembered his teachings.

"And here comes the real danger," said Acheron, wearily eyeing the large purple serpent sliding past his boat. But before he could raise his weapon at the sea serpent, Acheron looked up front only to find a black haired man wearing a blue kimono and a black hakama, with another black kimono hanging off of his shoulder, standing on the surface of the water, blocking his path.

The sea serpent, quickly recognizing his master, slithered to the red-eyed man's side, circling his body under the man's feet before emerging his head up from the water in order to cover his master from the falling rain. However, the man stepped out from under the hood as if rejecting to be shield from the harsh, freezing rain. The serpent, understanding his master's pain, sank down and wrapped himself around the man's waist instead, trying to provide some comfort for his beloved master. The mysterious man does not smile as he petted his pet's head while staring at Acheron.

"Lord Acheron," he greeted with a small down of the head.

Acheron took down his hood to reveal the face of yet another handsome man with black hair, red eyes, and pale skin. Although the two men shared these common traits, their built was different, as Acheron seemed to have more muscle than the other man, who's skin was a bit tanner and his hair a little more blue than black. Also, unlike Acheron, Zeref could see that the man had a black tattoo emerging from the right side of his neck area.

"Soul," said Acheron, a small smile on his face compared to the other man's deep frown. "I see you're still the same as ever."

"What are you doing here, my Lord?" Soul questioned.

"I came to deliver these two to your Master," Acheron replied, indicating toward Mavis and Zeref.

Soul narrowed his blood red eyes at them, judging them. "I see," he said, before stepping aside to let the boat pass through.

Seeing that the path was cleared, Acheron moved the boat forward as Soul bowed in respect as they passed.

"You really shouldn't drown yourself in here for so long, Saruhiko," said Acheron, as they passed the Guardian of the Ninth Gate. "It's depressing, and I'm sure that his missing of you will outweigh his hatred for you."

Saruhiko smiled sadly at Acheron's words. "That's not possible, Lord Ash," he said. "After all, he was the one who banished me to this realm and made me guard the Gate."

"Even so," Acheron continued, his eyes gazed forward. "You were his second best and closest friend next to Toshiro."

"All the more reason why I have to stay here." Saruhiko bowed lower. "I will take my leave now." His form moved further away and soon faded into the rain.

Acheron sighed. "Ahh, stubborn, prideful brats," he muttered. "Why are you always attracted to the cold ones Lucas."

The boat rowed on in silence as the rain worsened and the temperature dropped even lower.

"How come there's no snow, but only freezing rain here?" Zeref asked once more.

Acheron smirked. "Because the person who sealed the demon away here happens to be the God of Winter, and the demon's main element happens to be fire, so he, who wants to get out of the Seal, is constantly battling against the God's power," he answered, before sighing. "I feel sorry for Soul for being suck in between those two's quarrels."

The sky rumbled overhead as the boat finally made it to the End of the Line. The boat came up onto the icy pavement and Zeref helped Mavis carefully disembark. Once off, the two turned to face Acheron in order to thank him.

Acheron smiled, "No problem," he said. "I had fun. Hey, when you get in there, tell him that I'll pay his other a visit sometime later."

Mavis nodded and Acheron waved them good luck.

Holding hands, Zeref made a fire with one hand and the two began to walk into the melting, icy cave before them. As they made their way in, with Zeref leading and pulling Mavis along with him, the only sound that greeted the both of them was the dripping of the slowly melting ice. Mavis breathed out a breath of cold air.

"Are you all right, Mavis?" Zeref questioned. "Cold?"

Mavis looked up at him and nodded. "I'm okay," she replied, and they began their journey once more. "Hey, Zeref? What kind of demon do you think lies at the end of this road?"

"I don't know," said Zeref. "But whatever it is, I'm sure we can handle it. Or at least, I can. After all, I don't think that any demon awaiting us at the end of this tunnel can be any worse then what I've experienced for the past 400 years."

A booming laughter resounded throughout the cave, shaking the place a little and causing some ice to fall as the sounds of chains racking about could be heard. "Good answer, boy," came a male voice from somewhere within the cave. Suddenly, blue fires lit up the place and sent warmth to the two. "Come."

Zeref put out his flames and the two followed the lit path down to the end, where they came upon a wide area and found a blue haired male with a red tattoo on the right side of his face standing in front of a large golden gate. When the boy noticed the two new arrives, he turned away from the gate and stared at the them.

"Hello," he greeted.

"Hi!" said Mavis, skipping over. "I'm Mavis, and that's Zeref." The blue haired man's eyes widened when he heard the name.

"Z-Zeref?" he questioned, taking a scared step back. "As in the Black Wizard Zeref?"

"You know of me?" Zeref stepped up.

"Of course. Who on Earth Land won't?"

"Oh, that's true."

"And you are?" Mavis questioned.

"I'm Jellel," he turned to Mavis, giving the girl he thought a child a warm smile. "Jellel Fernandes."

"Are you the one we're suppose to meet up with?"

The teenager shook his head and stared up into the darkness of the cell. Both Mavis and Zeref's gaze followed after him and found ruby red eyes staring back at him. Then, a face emerged from the darkness and the two could make out the head of a yellow fox coming into their view. The fox was smiling widely at them, giving off a creepy and hungry look that caused Mavis to take a small step back in horror, hiding herself behind Zeref, who remained unaffected as he looked up at the large best.

"Hmm," the fox hummed, revealing himself to be the voice they had heard earlier. "It seems that to you, I am not as scary as a dragon, am I?"

"On the contrary," said Zeref. "Though you may not appear as terrifying as dragons, the aura you gave off is so strong that it's made me unable to even move. In fact, it's taking me quite a lot of courage to even talk and not weaver."

The fox laughed. "That just means that your resolve is strong!" He pointed a claw to Jellel. "He was sweating when he first saw me!"

Jellel smiled. "It's true," he confirmed, "I've only just gotten used to it. It also helped that he lessened the intensity a bit when he retreated." He eyed Mavis "Though… I'm cirious as to why that child behind you is not as affected as I was? Is she a companion of yours, master Zeref?"

"Just Zeref is fine," said Zeref. "As for Mavis… she is…" He thought over what to say, wondering how he should word it. "She… is important to me." He then turned his gaze over to the fox demon sealed behind the golden gate. "I take it you are the one who can break our curse?"

"Curse?" Jellel questioned.

The demon laughed. "Yes," he answered. "I am. But that all depends on you… on weather or not you are willing to accept my offer. If you do, I will take away your curse, but in return, you must serve me."

"What do you mean by 'serve you'?" Zeref questioned, his eyes narrowed.

The Fox smiled. "I mean in exchange for granting your wish, you will give your soul to me and become immortal in order to serve me until I see fit to let you go to the Spirit World to await rebirth," he explained.

"That's it?" Mavis questioned. "That's the price we pay?"

The Fox nodded. "And exactly how do we serve you?" Jellel questioned in suspicion, voicing out Zeref's own question.

The Fox smiled as he swung his 9 tails about. "Well… you won't really be serving me, per say… It's more like you'll be locking me up here so that I won't break free from my imprisonment and rage destruction upon the upper worlds."

Zeref and Mavis's eyes widened in realization. "You're the demon…" said Mavis.

The Fox nodded. "I am."

"So we won't we serving you, but doing the upper worlds a favor by locking you up here?" Jelle restated the demon's explanation.

"Correct," the Fox confirmed. "Although, you will have to follow Lucas's orders."

"Lucas?" said Mavis, wondering where she had heard that name before.

"I think Acheron mentioned him once during our journey," said Zeref.

"He is my favorite," said the demon. "His soul chain is the strongest amongst my chains." The demon pulled on the golden chain connected to his chest and wrapped around his neck. "Yet it is also the weakest." The fox smirked evilly as the chains burned hot red, confusing the three humans before him.

"So," the demon glanced up, "deal or no deal? For you two, I will left the Curse of Contradiction from you," he pointed to Mavis and Zeref before turning sharply to Jellal. "And as for you, I will help you make amends and grant you the wish of protecting your lover. So, what do you say?"

"Y-you can really… take this curse away?" Zeref questioned, tears willing up in his eyes.

"… You doubting me?" the demon raised an eyebrow, saying this knowing full well that his words cannot he trusted, but his existence can. "I'll have you know that my prison wasn't created by just one God, nor is there only one Guardian guarding the Path. And even with all of that, these," he pulled on the many chains binding him down, "are still needed to keep me bound to this place."

Zeref nodded in understanding. "What do I have to do?" he questioned.

"So I take it that all of you are in agreement then?" the fox questioned, a knowing smirk on his face as he crossed his two front lags together as if he was human. All three nods and the smirking fox put down his paws before moving closer to the golden bars. "Brace yourselves, brats, this is going to hurt."

He held out one hand and suddenly, all three humans could feel a powerful force pulling on something from deep within them as the essence of their souls was ripped from their body. This processed caused unimaginable pain to course through the three humans as their souls began to travel toward the fox demon's awaiting paw.

Zeref's soul, much to his surprise, was not black, but dark purple while Mavis's was gold and Jellel was dark blue. The minute the glistering streams made it to the Fox's hand, it turned into silver colored chains and quickly traveled to wrap themselves around the fox, further binding him and preventing him from escaping his prison. Once finished, the demon pulled his hand back and watched as the humans fell before him, sweating profoundly and breathing heavily at the intensity of the pain they were put through.

"Hmm," the Fox hummed. "You didn't collapse. But then again, you lot are a lot stronger than the mortals who strove to come and meet me so they could have their wish granted." The fox watch the three struggled to stand, Zeref helping Mavis steady herself while he used her to keep his bearing.

"At times like this," the Fox continued, observing them through half litted eyes, "I wish I just eaten your souls. This way, I can say thanks for the meal and happily send you on your way." He looked up, his eyes softening. "Oh, how long has it been since I've last had a meal?"

"I know how that feels," said Mavis, causing the Fox to return his gaze down to her.

"I'm sure you do," he said. "But I doubt that that Dragon God would let you go hungry."

"Dragon God?" Mavis looked up, confused.

"Takumi. He sometimes visits the Spirit World or Hell. Ah, and I should tell you, you guys now have a fox tattoo somewhere on your body. It indicates that you belong to me, that you are one of my Shadow-Hunters."

"Shadow-Hunters?" Jellel questioned.

The Fox demon raised both his brows. "You'll know what that means later," he said. "The people I am sending you to will help you ajust to it. And also, you guys won't be aging or dying from mortal wounds anymore, since you no longer have a soul in your body. And pregnancy will be hard because of that."

"What?!" Mavis freaked out, ignoring the last part. "I'm stuck like this again?!"

Zeref smiled and pocked Mavis's pouting cheek with his pointer fingure. "Don't worry, Mavis. You still have me. I still love you, no matter how you appear." Mavis beamed at him.

"Loli, hah," the Fox observed.

"By the way." Zeref looked up. "What is your name?"

"Oh yeah," Mavis realized. "You never told us."

The fox smirked and looked behind them. Suddenly, a swift black wind brushed passed Mavis and Zeref, causing them to cover their eyes. When they opened them, they found Acheron standing in front of them, his hood down and his scythe raised toward the fox in a threatening manner. The Aura he was given off had managed to bring all the new Hunters down on their knees, with all three breathing heavily at the pressure placed on them and the lack of oxygen in the dense air. Acheron's red eyes were burning with furry as he glared up at the amused fox.

"You look cold, Ash," the giant fox commented, an amused smirk on his face as he studied the frosts clinging to the Death God's cloak.

"Of course I'm fucking cold, you idiot fox!" Acheron screamed at the fallen diety, glaring up at him. "Do you have any fucking idea how powerful Law is? His anger is not to be taken lightly, Lucifer! And why the fuck did you make me wait in this cold?"

"Language dear cousin," Lucifer reminded. "And I'm sure you can already guess why. I want you to furry them to Fallen London. They have to meet up with the others there."

Acheron's eyes narrowed as Mavis and Jellel questioned what others they were referring to. "What did you do, Luce? I can feel thousands of souls falling in from that rainy place. Just what did you do to him this time?"

Lucifer laughed. "I just made things a little more fun. This'll teach Arthur not to say "no" to me."

Acheron sighed. "You really wanted him? That badly?"

Lucifer smirked. "No, I just like tormenting him and I just wanted to take him from Elliot Cromwell." Acheron rolled his eyes in annoyance at having to be stuck in between Lucifer and Elliot's power struggles. "Now hurry along, Ash, I'm going back to my nap and you need to go help out with the enormous amount of souls entering the Underworld."

Acheron's eyes narrowed. "It'd be great if you could help us out too, you know?"

Lucifer moved an arm, causing the chains to give off a sound as a way of answer Acheron. "Oh, but I am helping though."

"Yeah, helping to give us more work. At this rate, I might just join Toshiro in hunting down the Sixth and forcing him and the Eight to finish your own work for once." Acheron turned around and, with one last final glare at his younger cousin, huffed and walked off, Mavis and the other following after him.

On their way back, Mavis sat with Zeref and helped Acheron explain to Jellel about the different levels of Hell. Also, at the Seventh Level, Acheron was able to introduce them to Hayden Radciff, an elder member of the Shadow-Hunters despite his young appearance, and Zen Verius, the Red Horseman of War; one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The two of them were on the battle field, fighting each other, and Acheron questioned what they were both angry at this time, to which Zen replied that he wasn't angry, just frustrated while Hayden said that he was just helping Zen relieve steam and preventing him from sending these poor souls to the Abyss or worse, killing them off completely.

Finally, they made it back to the first level and Mavis could see the red torii gate that she and Zeref waited at. However, Acheron did not take them toward the gate, instead, he passed it.

"Wait, Ash," said Mavis, looking back at him from her place clutching onto the side of the boat. "Where are you talking us?"

Acheron made a face and said, "To fallen London." He then sighed and stared back at Mavis, an apologetic look in his eyes. "Sorry. It's just… I'm not in a good mood right now."

And they road on in silence, going against the current until they passed another torii gate and came to the place where the water did not move in any direction. Here, many kinds of water lanterns, such as different colored lotus flowers, small wooden boats, and other geomantic shapes, lighted the place as Furriers dressed in black kimonos, hanfus, hanbok, old western cloths, or ropes ferried the spirits of the dead to the Western Shores.

"This is the place that most would've ended up at if they wanted to enter the Spirit World," said Acheron. "This is where you would've ended up, Mavis. Had it not been for your Curse, you won't have appeared in Hell or ran into Takumi, who had to fly you across." Mavis blushed at the memory and Acheron smirked before returning his attention up front. "It's a lot safer here than it is to go through the Demon Gate, but since Takumi was protecting you, the two of you made it to the torii gate safely. And it was probably best that you went that way, since I don't often make trips here."

Acheron rowed them passed the crowd, causing the Furriers to stop their boats and bow at his presence, and into the darkness on the northern side. Acheron did not make any attempt to light a fire and Zeref didn't have time to make one before they suddenly felt the tides change as they emerged from the tunnel and into a world that the three Earth Landers were not familiar with.

"W-where are we?" Mavis questioned, looking around at the dark, unfamiliar and ominous city.

"London, the capital city of the country known as England, officially known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland," said Acheron. "This place… this world is known as simply Earth. And we are currently somewhere in the 21st Century of this world. 21st being somewhere in the two thousandth range." The three raised an eyebrow at that number. "Though I say that, this world actually advanced slower than Earth Land did." Acheron laughed merrily, yet it sounded somewhat bitter to the ears as he pulled the boat up onto shore, close to a bridge where they could see a giant tower with a clock at the top.

The three got off while Acheron continued to stare at the clock tower. "Of course," he whispered. "The Death Party just has to always began at Midnight. The Bewitching Hour indeed." He looked sadly up at the moon before turning to the three youngsters. "Head in the direction of that large smoke and look for a girl with blond hair and brown eyes. Her name is Lucy Heartfilia, she is Layla's daughter and looks a lot like her mother, so it shouldn't be too hard for you to find her, Zeref." He looked to the wide-eyed Zeref before turning his gaze to Mavis. "Jellel might remember her as the Celestial Mage of Fairy Tail. Once you find her, ask her to take you to Arthur Kirkland. He is the one you really want… It should take you about 5 minutes if you run, but do be careful of the road children." He smiled playfully. "You don't want to die a bloody death so soon, the revival is painful in those situations. Well, off you go now."

"Thank you," said Mavis, who was now back to being a spirit that only Acheron could see and Zeref could feel. She gave Acheron a wide smile before running in the direction of the flames along with Jellel and Zeref.

Acheron smiled after them before turning his sad gaze to the smoke and then to Westminster Palace. "You'll be quite busy now, won't you? …England." And with those final words, he disappeared into the mist.

* * *

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